Lucille Clifton
|birth_place = Depew, New York, United States |death_date = February |death_place = Baltimore, Maryland |occupation = Author |spouse = Fred James Clifton }} Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 - February 13, 2010) was an American poet, writer, and academic.Obituary New York Times, February 17, 2010.Obituary Washington Post, February 21, 2010.Obituary Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2010. Common topics in her poetry include the celebration of her African American heritage, and feminist themes, with particular emphasis on the female body. Life Clifton was born Thelma Lucille Sayles in Depew, New York, grew up in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Fosdick-Masten Park High School in 1953.73 Poems for 73 Years, Hilary Holladay, James Madison University, September 21, 2010, p.48 She went on to study on a scholarship at Howard University from 1953 to 1955, and after leaving over poor grades, studied at the State University of New York at Fredonia (near Buffalo). 73 Poems for 73 Years, Hilary Holladay, James Madison University, September 21, 2010, p.48 In 1958, she married Fred James Clifton, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Buffalo, and a sculptor whose carvings depicted African faces. Lucille worked as a claims clerk in the New York State Division of Employment, Buffalo (1958-1960), and as literature assistant in the Office of Education in Washington, D.C. (1960-1971). Writer Ishmael Reed, introduced Mrs. Clifton to her husband Fred, while he was organizing The Buffalo Community Drama Workshop. Fred and Lucille Clifton starred in the group's version of "The Glass Menagerie" which was called "Poetic and Sensitive" by The Buffalo Evening News. In 1966, Reed showed some of Mrs. Clifton's poems to Langston Hughes, who included them in his anthology "The Poetry Of The Negro." In 1967, the Cliftons moved to Baltimore, Maryland. 73 Poems for 73 Years, Hilary Holladay, James Madison University, September 21, 2010, p.48 Her 1st poetry collection Good Times was published in 1969, and listed by The New York Times as among the year's 10 best books. From 1971 to 1974, Lucille Clifton was poet-in-residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore. From 1979 to 1985, she was Poet Laureate of the state of Maryland."Maryland Poets Laureate," webpage of Maryland State Archives, retrieved May 27, 2007. From 1982 to 1983 she was visiting writer at Columbia University School of the Arts and at George Washington University. In 1984, her husband died of cancer.73 Poems for 73 Years, Hilary Holladay, James Madison University, September 21, 2010, p.48 From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz.Maryland State Archives and Maryland Commission for Women. "Lucille Clifton, Maryland Women's Hall of Fame," webpage from the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame retrieved May 28, 2007. She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland. From 1995 to 1999, she was Visiting Professor at Columbia University. In 2006, she was a fellow at Dartmouth College. Lucille Clifton traced her family's roots to the West African Kingdom of Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin. Growing up she was told by her mother, "Be proud, you're from Dahomey women!"Lupton (2006), p. 60 She cites as one of her ancestors the first black woman to be "legally hanged" for manslaughter in the state of Kentucky during the time of Slavery in the United States. Girls in her family are born with an extra finger on each hand, a genetic trait known as polydactyly. Lucille's two extra fingers were amputated surgically when she was a small child, a common practice at that time for reasons of superstition and social stigma. Her "two ghost fingers" and their activities became a theme in her poetry and other writings. Health problems in her later years included painful gout which gave her some difficulty in walking. She died in Baltimore. Writing Her series of children's books about a young black boy began with 1970's Some of the Days of Everett Anderson. Everett Anderson, a recurring character in many of her books, spoke in authentic African-American dialect and dealt with real life social problems. Her work features in anthologies such as My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Black Poetry (Ed. Arnold Adoff), A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women Yesterday and Today (Ed. Catherine Clinton), Black Stars: African American Women Writers (Ed. Brenda Scott Wilkinson) and Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology (Ed. Lauret E. Savoy, Eldridge M. Moores, & Judith E. Moores (Trinity University Press). Studies about her life and writings include Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton (LSU Press, 2004) by Hilary Holladay and Lucille Clifton: Her Life and Letters (Praeger, 2006) by Mary Jane Lupton. Recognition Clifton received a Creative Writing Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1970 and 1973, and a grant from the Academy of American Poets. She has received the Charity Randall prize, the Jerome J. Shestack Prize from the American Poetry Review, and an Emmy Award. Clifton was Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985.Lucille Clifton, PoemHunter. Web, June 5, 2014. Her children's book, Everett Anderson’s Good-bye, won the 1984 Coretta Scott King Award. In 1988, she became the 1st author to have 2 books of poetry chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. For 1991/1992, she was awarded the Shelley Memorial Award. She received the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry in 1996. Her volume, Blessing the Boats: New and Collected Poems 1988–2000 won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2000. From 1999 to 2005, she served on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets. In 2007, Clifton won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; the $100,000 prize honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition." Clifton is set to receive the Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement posthumously, from the Poetry Society of America Publications Poetry *''Good Times''. New York: Random House, 1969. *''Good News About the Earth: New Poems''. New York: Random House, 1972. *''An Ordinary Woman''. New York: Random House, 1974. *''Two-Headed Woman''. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1980. *''Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir: 1969–1980''. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 1987. *''Next: New Poems''. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 1987 *''Ten Oxherding Pictures'' Santa Cruz, CA: Moving Parts Press, 1988 *''Quilting: Poems 1987–1990''. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions,, 1991. ISBN 9780918526816 *''The Book of Light'' Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 1993. *''The Terrible Stories'' Brockport: BOA Editions, 1998. *''Blessing The Boats: New and Collected Poems 1988–2000''. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 2000; Paw Prints, 2008 *''Mercy''. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 2004. ISBN 9781929918553 *''Voices''. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 2008. ISBN 9781934414125 Non-fiction *''Generations: A memoir''. New York: Random House, 1976. Juvenile *''The Black BCs'' (alphabet poems, illustrated by Don Miller). New York: Dutton, 1970. *''Good, Says Jerome'' (illustrated by Stephanie Douglas). New York: Dutton, 1973. *''All Us Come 'cross the Water'' (pictures by John Steptoe). New York: Holt, 1973. *''Don't You Remember?'' (illustrated by Evaline Ness). New York: Dutton, 1973. *''The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Spring'' (pictures by Brinton Turkle). New York: Dutton, 1973. *''The Times They Used to Be'' (illustrated by Susan Jeschke). New York: Holt, 1974. *''My Brother Fine with Me'' (illustrated by Moneta Barnett). New York: Holt, 1975. *''Three Wishes'' (illustrated by Stephanie Douglas). New York: Viking, 1976 ** (illustrated by Michael Hays). Delacorte, 1992. *''Amifika'' (illustrated by Thomas DiGrazia). New York: Dutton, 1977. *''The Lucky Stone'' (illustrated by Dale Payson). New York: Delacorte, 1979; New York: Random House (Yearling Books), 1986. *''My Friend Jacob'' (illustrated by Thomas DiGrazia). New York: Dutton, 1980. *''Sonora Beautiful'' (illustrated by Michael Garland). New York: Dutton, 1981. *''Dear Creator: A week of poems for young people and their teachers'' (illustrated by Gail Gordon Carter. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1997. Everett Anderson series *''Some of the Days of Everett Anderson'' (illustrated by Evaline Ness). New York: Holt, 1970. *''Everett Anderson's Christmas Coming'' (illustrated by Evaline Ness). New York: Holt, 1971 ** (illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist). New York: Holt, 1991. *''Everett Anderson's Year'' (illustrated by Ann Grifalconi). New York: Holt, 1974. *''Everett Anderson's Friend'' (illustrated by Ann Grifalconi). New York: Holt, 1976. *''Everett Anderson's 1 2 3'' (illustrated by Ann Grifalconi). New York: Holt, 1977. *''Everett Anderson's Nine Month Long'' (illustrated by Ann Grifalconi). New York: Holt, 1978. *''Everett Anderson's Goodbye'' (illustrated by Ann Grifalconi). New York: Holt, 1983. *''One of the Problems of Everett Anderson'' (illustrated by Ann Grifalconi). New York: Holt, 2001. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.Lucille Clifton 1936-2010, Poetry Foundation, Web, Aug. 21, 2012. Audio / video *Lucille Clifton Reading Her Poems with Comment in the Montpelier Room, October 24, 2002 (sound recoring), Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature, Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 2002. *The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress. Lucille Clifton (sound recording), Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature, Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 2002. See also *List of U.S. poets References * Holladay, Hilary, Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton, Louisiana State University Press, 2004 ISBN 978-0807129876 * Lupton, Mary Jane, Lucille Clifton: her life and letters, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, ISBN 0275984699 Notes External links ;Poems * Lucille Clifton profile and 10 poems at the Academy of American Poets * Lucille Clifton 1936-2010 at the Poetry Foundation. * Lucille Clifton:Online poems *Lucille Clifton at PoemHunter (34 poems) ;Audio/video *Lucille Clifton at YouTube * " 'Since you asked..,' with Lucille Clifton" for the WGBH series, New Television Workshop Lucille Clifton reads "Turning" for the WGBH series, New Television Workshop * "Lucille Clifton Reads A Poem About the Days Surrounding Sept. 11" PBS. 8 September 2006. (Audio) * Recorded in Los Angeles, CA, on May 21, 1996. From Lannan (Video 45 mins). ;Books *Lucille Clifton at Amazon.com ;About * Lucille Clifton at BOA Editions * Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) at Modern American Poetry, University of Illinois Category:1936 births Category:2010 deaths Category:African American writers Category:American people of Beninese descent Category:Howard University alumni Category:University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Category:Columbia University faculty Category:St. Mary's College of Maryland faculty Category:Writers from New York Category:Poets Laureate of Maryland Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:State University of New York at Fredonia alumni Category:African American female poets Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:American academics